Citation Nr: 0630887
Decision Date: 10/02/06 Archive Date: 10/10/06
DOCKET NO. 01-08 517 ) DATE
)
On appeal from the
Department of Veterans Affairs Regional Office in Chicago,
Illinois
THE ISSUE
Entitlement to compensation under 38 U.S.C. § 1151 for
additional gastrointestinal disability as a result of VA
treatment in June 1982 and January 1983.
REPRESENTATION
Veteran represented by: Veterans of Foreign Wars of
the United States
ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD
D. Hachey, Associate Counsel
INTRODUCTION
The veteran served on active duty from January 1943 to April
1946.
This case comes before the Board of Veterans' Appeals (the
Board) on appeal from a June 2000 rating decision of the
Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office in
Chicago, Illinois (the RO) which denied the veteran's claim
of entitlement to compensation under 38 U.S.C. § 1151 for
additional gastrointestinal disability as a result of VA
treatment in June 1982 and January 1983.
The Board remanded this case in December 2003 and requested
an independent medical expert opinion in July 2006.
FINDING OF FACT
The veteran died in August 2005.
CONCLUSION OF LAW
Due to the death of the veteran, the Board has no
jurisdiction to adjudicate the merits of this claim. 38
U.S.C.A. § 7104(a) (West 2002); 38 C.F.R. § 20.1302 (2006).
REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDING AND CONCLUSION
In August 2006, while awaiting the opinion of the independent
medical expert, the Board received a letter from the
veteran's brother-in-law notifying the Board of the veteran's
passing. As a matter of law, appellants' claims do not
survive their deaths. Zevalkink v. Brown, 102 F.3d 1236,
1243-44 (Fed. Cir. 1996); Smith v. Brown, 10 Vet. App. 330,
333-34 (1997); Landicho v. Brown, 7 Vet. App. 42, 47 (1994).
This appeal has become moot by virtue of the death of the
veteran and must be dismissed for lack of jurisdiction. See
38 U.S.C.A. § 7104(a) (West 2002);
38 C.F.R. § 20.1302 (2006).
In reaching this determination, the Board intimates no
opinion as to the merits of this appeal or to any derivative
claim brought by a survivor of the veteran.
See 38 C.F.R. § 20.1106 (2006).
ORDER
The appeal is dismissed.
____________________________________________
Barry F. Bohan
Veterans Law Judge, Board of Veterans' Appeals
Department of Veterans Affairs